Not a single person perished in a commercial passenger jet crash in 2017, making the year an extraordinarily safe one for flying. New reports from two separate organizations in the Netherlands summarize just how incredibly safe it was to take to the skies commercially, and aviation experts say that the recent streak is simply a part of trend going back years (so feel free to ignore that tweet from the President claiming it’s his doing.)

While flying by commercial passenger jet was fatality-free globally, the industry did suffer minimal losses. By one count, from the Aviation Safety Network, there were ten accidents involving commercial passenger or cargo airplanes, claiming 44 lives in 2017. (That organization focuses on crashes involving commercial planes, cargo or passenger, meant to carry 14 or more people; it didn’t include the 35 lives lost on the ground during a cargo plane accident in Kyrgyzstan.) By another count, from a Dutch firm called To70, 14 people were killed in aviation accidents in 2017. They focused just on commercial passenger planes heavier than 12,566 pounds at takeoff. And it’s been a record-breaking 400-plus days since the last commercial passenger jet crash anywhere in the world, according to the Aviation Safety Network’s CEO, Harro Ranter.

Here’s why

The key turn-around decade for aircraft safety was the 1990s, says Mary Schiavo, an attorney and a former Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation. “You can see dramatic changes if you look at the progress of aviation safety over time,” she says, “with collision avoidance systems, advanced ground proximity warning systems,” and improved air traffic control.

Schiavo also says that “crew resource management” has helped, too—that’s an industry term that refers to how pilots communicate with each other. They should, she says, “continually challenge each other.”

Like Schiavo, Ranter of the Aviation Safety Network says that the “extremely safe” past year is part of a progression going back two decades—and multiple factors are to thank for that. “It’s not just one invention or something like that,” he says. In general, he says, the industry has been learning over time from incidents they’ve investigated. He also touts engine reliability and more automation.

Then there are the benefits of anonymous reporting, Ranter says, in which pilots and others, like air traffic controllers, can confidentially report incidents, even minor ones. For example, in the United States, since 1976 NASA has hosted the confidential Aviation Safety Reporting System. It then publishes a database and newsletter with the results of those incident reports.

It can be a candid glimpse at what happens behind the scenes: In the December edition, the industry newsletter reported that a pilot was told a snake had been spotted in the cockpit—but hadn’t been found since. The captain asked for a new plane. “I contacted Dispatch and discussed with them that I was uncomfortable taking the aircraft with an unknown reptile condition.…” the pilot wrote. “The possibility [existed] that a snake could expose itself in flight, or worse on the approach, come out from under the rudder pedals.” According the newsletter, while that captain got a new aircraft, the plane in which the serpent was spotted went into use anyway.

Adrian Young of To70 echoes Ranter and Schiavo and says that the safe streak is not just a recent phenomenon. “This is the result of decades of work making aviation safer and safer,” he says. He also points to stronger, less flammable planes as a safety boon, as well as keeping the areas around runways and airports obstacle-free.

Flying is still inherently a risky business, he says, and he’s worried specifically about the proliferation of lithium-ion batteries we all now carry in smartphones, laptops, and squirreled away in suitcases in the baggage compartment. “It’s something that has the whole industry's attention,” he says.

The blacklist

Finally, for those interested in knowing what airlines not to fly, the European Union keeps a so-called blacklist of carriers that aren’t allowed to operate in the EU. One of those on the list, from Indonesia, is also one of the airlines that crashed in 2017, claiming a single life.

Don't want to turn this into a Political Thread, so I will just say that it is nice to have a great safety record for 2017. Unfortunately they seem to come and go like the new one in Costa Rico and plenty of GA crashes.

Bob

SUPPORTING MEMBER

BobWest Nyack Aviation, L.L.C. New York, New York - East Hampton, New York & Warwick, New York 631.374.9652rkittine@aol.com WA2YDV

I can't tell you how many times the FAA staff have put themselves in traction from patting themselves on the back for keeping us alive. Trumps mild in comparison statement about making aviation safe doesn't even come close the FAA statements.

Why didn't anybody get this excited about the politicians who passed the 1500 hour rule when they where taking the safety claim high ground?

The FAA even started the FAASafety: https://www.faasafety.gov/ to remind every pilot that their obese bureaucracy is keeping you alive.

You never read anywhere that pilots don't want to die so they practice, study and spend large sums of money preventing their untimely demise.

"WE ARE SELF REGULATED" None of the fat-cat bureaucrats or drunk-on-power politicians will ever admit that.

Klaus, not every pilot is as conscience as you. Can't disagree that the mature, intelligent, level headed pilots do self regulated, but I know and have come across many that are or were none of those things. I have had passengers ask me if as Captain was it my job was protect them and get them back alive and in reality I wanted to say, "I want to get me back on the ground alive, so that is your good fortune".

I trained in the mid 60s in a test program tried by one of the legacy carriers. Crew coordination from the start. At 250 (actually I had about 450 at the time) hours (the old 1st Officer requirement) I climbed into the right seat of a Beech 19 and was glad that the Captain never passed out or became totally disabled. At 750 hours I felt I didn't even need him any more. At just over 1,100 hours (and 19 years old, the requirement of the time) I got my Airline Transport Pilot RATING on my Commercial Certificate, which was how it was done in those days. Still have my 1965 issue of Zweng and Zweng's study guide.

I agree that 1,500 hours is not some magic number, nor was the 250, but the U.S. pilot training mill in my opinion needs a lot of revamping to compete with some of the other training regiments out there. The reason we still get all the students here though is because I have seen how competitive it is to get into the training program with many of the European carriers.

I have flown with guys that have gone up when there were squawks on the equipment they were assigned that day because they needed and wanted the job so bad. One of my multi-students got on with a regional, ended up going up in a plane he was uncomfortable flying after his boss told him fly or your fired (he called his wife and told her the story before the flight took off) and ended up dead. Fortunately he was repositioning the equipment and he and his FO were the only ones lost.

So there are plenty of pilots out there that fit all those student traits we learned to watch out for when we were studying for the Instructors written and in CFI flight training.

The multi-engine school I owned was operated under Part 141 so an ME candidate got at least 13.5 hours of flight training and 6 or more hours of ground in addition to the check ride. Not one of the multi mills where you got 3 or 4 hours in the airplane, 6 penciled in your log and told the three questions you would get on the oral and the exact layout of the check ride. I still felt that the majority of those that went through it (99 percent pass rate) would have had a problem if they really did lose and engine when they were not planning on it happening. Since most were off to get on with a carrier that would train them further, it was less concerning then those that said they were then going out and buying a twin. All 43 of my trainers were available for rent, but each rental candidate got another 15 hours minimum in the airplane with me before signed off to rent. Still only felt a little better, though I only lost one BE-76 and that was to two instructors practicing together for their ATP rides.

In any case, the bottom line is that it is great that this year had a positive record and I am sure we all hope that continues.

Bob

SUPPORTING MEMBER

BobWest Nyack Aviation, L.L.C. New York, New York - East Hampton, New York & Warwick, New York 631.374.9652rkittine@aol.com WA2YDV

Bob, I know what you're saying. But, "Self Regulating" gets easier with time and experience. As a young aspiring mechanic I would allow the flight business owner make decisions on maintenance. Some of the FBO/Air-taxi owners understood the circumstances surrounding an accident that was blamed on being cheap others "mitigated risk".

That's what one of the Air-taxi owners tried to teach me not long ago "Mitigated Risk". He's a very highly educated person so, I had to be a very ignorant person and "mitigate his wallet" .... he told me that he doesn't likes me but he does respect me because the aircraft dispatch rate was the highest he ever saw. I taught this fancy business educated scholar the priorities of spending money. The two biggest 'return on the dollar' is employees and maintained equipment. Now the company is "Self Regulated" now the FAA come through on routine visits and check the torque wrench calibration tags. Obviously those calibration tags on my torque wrench is why aviation is so safe.

The interesting thing is that That "Little New York Airport" (Stewart / Newburg) has the second largest runway in the country, second only to Edwards AFB and was the site of the 80s hostage return and has the largest fleet of C-5A (13) in the country.

I have been taking instrument students into and out of Stewart for years and the military / civilian controllers have done things for me no other controlled field would ever do.

Bob

SUPPORTING MEMBER

BobWest Nyack Aviation, L.L.C. New York, New York - East Hampton, New York & Warwick, New York 631.374.9652rkittine@aol.com WA2YDV